Is Religious Faith Collapsing in Great Britain?

by George H. Gallup Jr.

Senior Staff Writer

Among all of the tumultuous changes that have occurred in
post-World War II Great Britain, one of the biggest stories in the
religious community has been the diminishing of religious faith.
According to a series of Gallup Polls conducted during the past six
decades, the percentage of British adults saying they believe in
God or a universal spirit has fallen steadily, from 76% in
1974-1976 to barely half (54%) today. Going farther back, a 1947
Gallup Poll in Britain found 84% believing in a "personal God" or
"some sort of spirit or vital force that controls life."

Rev. Canon Dr. Michael Green, advisor to the archbishops of
Canterbury and York on evangelism, blames the downward trend in
British religiosity on the younger half of the population, many of
whom "have no links whatever with the church or Christianity of any
kind." Canon Green sees multiple factors spurring this downward
trend among younger adults in Britain: "a mixture of postmodernism,
dismissing the concepts of both truth and objective morality;
hedonism -- let's live it up; and materialism -- money and what
money can buy is all that matters."

Data from Gallup's most recent survey in Great Britain confirm
that the level of belief in God or a universal spirit is lower
among younger adults.

The Rev. Chris Smith, curate of Holy Trinity Church in
Cambridge, England, also believes that the national British church
(the Church of England) is somewhat responsible for the trend.
"Secular forces and an ineffective church have both played their
part in the slippage of religious commitment in this country.
British people still express faith today, but the object of their
faith is often science, money, or pleasure instead of God."

Canon Green believes that the Church of England needs to become
more appealing and visible to the British population. "The goal is
to be a renewed church, indifferent to denomination and
passionately concerned with Christian action … There have to
be more Christians in politics and the media, especially the
‘soaps,' which determine attitudes among the general
population."

Belief in God Much Higher in the United States

In sharp contrast to the trend in Great Britain is the trend in
belief in God or a universal spirit in the United States, which has
generally held steady over approximately the same period. Belief in
God or a universal spirit currently stands near 90% in the United
States, roughly 40 percentage points higher than the comparable
number in Great Britain.

Bottom Line

D. Michael Lindsay, a graduate fellow at Princeton University
who has conducted extensive comparative research on religion in the
United States and Great Britain, provides some interesting insights
on why Americans are so much more likely than Britons to profess a
belief in God or a universal spirit.

"Two important aspects explain at least a portion of the gap [in
religiosity between Americans and Britons]: demographics and
church-state relations. First, the United States has two minority
groups -- namely, African-Americans and Southerners -- who boost
the overall levels of religious commitment in the U.S. …
Second, the American church has been a source of encouragement and
resistance for blacks and Southerners in their struggle against the
establishment. The fact that England has an established church
means that minority groups in Great Britain don't often rally
around religion in the same way."

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